I just took a tooth pick and poked out numerous holes in the filter. Most of them cleaned up fine, but there were some. I also see that there is a tiny bit of what looks like scale at the bottom of the filter. I am going to run the vinegar next so that should take care of that. I dipped a rag in the bleach water while it was soaking and scrubbed under as much as I could and there was some crud but not a lot.

Now down to the basement for the vinegar treatment.

As I reported some lint on my filter, but very little build up of scale. I poked the filter with a toothpick in some areas that would not release the material, and the screen is totally clean. Vinegar wash and rinse and all looks good. I wasn't having an issue with it, but it is cleaner. Thanks all!

Good job Enduring. Your Maytag loves you for this lol. This is the machine that you do hubs farming clothing in, right? These machines were made to last as yours sure has, now you added another 27 years to it haha.Good Job!

Yes Mama this is the machine for the farm clothes. Maybe the frequent
hot washes and soaks has kept it cleaner than it could have been.

I am a firm believer that hot washes help to keep washers clean along with the clothes. I've seen the mess cold washes and the use of FS can do first hand.. its not a pretty sight.

I also believe too little detergent can also cause dirty stinky washer syndrome.

Dadoes...I don't have a FL, but when I hear about people using them and how pleased they are that there is no suds at all it leads me to think they haven't added enough detergent, even HE detergent will have some suds if used correctly..am I wrong?

A little sudsing is not necessarily a bad thing. I get some moderate sudsing in my Calypso at start of the wash period (when the fill isn't yet done so the concentration is higher) but it settles down to not-much.

mamapinky, I get virtually zero suds in my FL washer (and I am very particular about correct dosing of detergent). And the washer is super clean with no signs of any build up or mold. I do hot and extra hot (sanitary) washes regularly. I am convinced that the primary culprit of smelly washers is washing with cold water.

My water is softened then filtered. I have some suds no matter what I use. Some detergents I can't use at all because the amount I can use and not have excessive suds just isn't enough to clean anything. Having HE on the package really doesn't mean much in terms of suds. The lowest sudsing detergent I've ever used is Sunlight powder, not HE. Or maybe they didn't want to pay for the symbol?

I often think moldy washers aren't just the result of fabric softener alone but FS and not enough detergent to compensate for it. There is extra oil left in the washer and on the fabrics after the cycle from the FS.

Sandy, can one make their water not as soft as yours must be, so that they can use detergent without fear of over sudzing and get clothes clean?

A great way to avoid a smelly washer is to add 2 TBS of liquid chlorine bleach to your bleach dispenser for every load - yes, every load. That includes darks, colors, all of them. 2 TBS in a load will not bleach, but it will kill pathogens, germs and bacteria. Washing in warm would result in off smelling clothes if they sat for more than 30 minutes after washing. After adding this small amount of bleach to every load for a month, everything smells wonderful and I can leave a warm load sitting in the washer all day and there is no off smell.

sshrivastava: Does your machine dispense bleach into the wash water or the first rinse?

I read once that GE recommended to use 1/4 cup bleach when using public washers (full fill top load). That way the germs were killed and no transfer from the machine to your clothes. Plus they said it wouldn't affect colors.

Great tip! 2 TBS for front-load. Do you rinse in warm water?

Enduring - We have strange water here. The city water is over 30 grains but it's mostly calcium. I can either keep it super soft or deal with bicarb film on everything. Strangest water we've ever had.